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Your New Favourite Playlist: ‘Break Out!’

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We are collectively stuck In Doors. Lock Down, Self Isolation, and to some happy-go-lucky folk “Lol Quarantine”, is now a very familiar reality, one that has been in place for weeks and may persist.

These circumstances can create a feeling of powerlessness. Scientists blame an increase in ‘fucking crazy’ dreams (that’s a scientific term) on the pandemic, mostly due to stress. We are all better acquainted with what Indoors truly means.

In this edition of Your New Favourite Playlist, the songs revolve around the growing need to Break Out. This means out of your home, out of your neighbourhood, hell, even just out of the chair you’re sitting in.

We start off chill and end up going hard. Stick with it and I assure you it’ll be worth the ride.

Donna Summer – State of Independence

This song went from an abstract spiritual song to an absolute banger, once Donna Summer covered the original in 1982. By the end of this one you may feel the urge to raise your hands in the air towards nothing in particular.

Very notably, Summer’s angelic vocals are backed up by an all-star choir, consisting of none other than Lionel Richie, Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross, and Michael Jackson.

Nilüfer Yanya – Paradise

This one is a slow burner. Starting off with guitars and vocals that can give you chills in all the right places, Paradise builds into an epic crescendo that will definitely lift you higher.

Prince – Uptown

“We don’t let society tell us how it’s supposed to be, our clothes, our hair, we don’t care, it’s all about being there…” Say no more.

Dua Lipa – Levitating

If there’s a defining soundtrack for a summer spent indoors, Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia is a surefire contender. Levitating is a strong pop hit – familiar territory for the singer – with a chorus that means the song does exactly what it says on the tin.

Kate Bush – Hounds of Love

Before Grimes, the undisputed queen of Ethereal was Kate Bush. Kate has got all the right ingredients to break you out of any cage.

Hounds of Love has those war-like 80s drums that fill the rest of the album, and even though there’s definitely a lot of melancholy here, it’s hard not to be lifted up by Bush’s vocals.

It was a tough choice between this and Cloudbusting, but that song is about a son watching his father being arrested, so perhaps not quite right for here.

Swing Out Sister – Breakout

When it comes to 80s’ one-hit wonders, this song usually falls criminally under the radar. Sure, it’s cheesy as all hell, there’s no argument against that, but it’s incredibly uplifting too.

The initial funk bass in the intro, and the brass melody that underpins Breakout’s chorus are the defining moments of this song, and the brass in particular takes it to a new level.

CAN – I Want More

CAN records have some of the best drum beats in history, and while this song has more input from the synths and vocals than others, it’s still a really thumping beat, and in the end it was the band’s only hit in the UK.

The Hives – Come On!

This song has an incredible amount of energy, and it does it in only 1 minute 8 seconds, and with only 6 words — two of which are Come On!

The Cult – She Sells Sanctuary

She Sells Sanctuary is the kind of song that you put on when you hit a wall in a 5k run. And you know how many bloody 5ks are happening right now.

Link Wray – Fire and Brimstone

This one has that end-of-a-Western feeling, like when the cowboy triumphantly rides over the hill off into the sunset. This is a rock and roll classic with a lot of heart, and that’s why it’s on the break out playlist.

Fun fact about the album Fire and Brimstone: Link Wray’s team recorded it in a converted chicken shack, and had no drums, so on most of the tracks what you hear is them stomping on the floor.

Lynyrd Skynyrd – Free Bird

I know, I know, but how could it not be here? It’s harder to find a better example of an epic payoff in a song than Freebird, except perhaps Stairway to Heaven, but let’s be honest, ‘uplifting’ isn’t quite the label for that one. Perhaps you disagree, and you think there’s a better example of epic, in which case I’d love for you to tell me. Until then, Break Out!